This is a long way from the typical post but I wanted to share something with you guys about today's activities. My Grand Daughter is having her first birthday celebration today. Her date of birth is May 29, 2013 but scheduling makes it easier for all if we have it today, Saturday.
This is a bigger deal for me than one might normally expect because no body believed I would survive the malignant brain cancer thing that was discovered 22 days from today, 5 years ago. Tim Jr looked up the numbers and announced that I am in the 1/2 of 1% group that survives Glioblastoma Multiform Grade 4 cancer.
June 22, 2009 was Father's Day and on that day, I had a stoke or a seizure of some kind that knocked me out. I was driving along the rail road tracks at the stone yard that I was running near Ft. Polk. I passed out, crashed my truck and remained unconscious for almost 4 hours. During that time, someone called in a one car accident and the police showed up, called an ambulance and took me to the hospital where an MRI was done. That's when they found it.
When I came to, they told me that I had a large tumor on my right temporal lobe, that they could not handle it there and asked where I wanted to go. I told them to take me to the VA hospital in Shreveport. My buddy, Tommy Perkins, had my cell phone and had already talked to Tim Jr. who was on the USS Enterprise at the time. He made arrangements for an emergency leave and prepared to fly home to Shreveport to help me out.
When I arrived at the VA, they gave me another MRI and a Cat scan and told me that they couldn't do the surgery there and I would have to be transferred to another hospital. We hoped it would be LSU Med Center in Shreveport but as things turned out, a high school buddy of mine, Guy Kinnebrew, who worked at the VA, told us about Debakey Medical Center in Houston and explained that it was the brain trauma center for the military and that was where I really needed to go.
By that time, Tim Jr and Kristin had arrived from Norfolk and they loaded me in a car and transported me to Debakey where the brain surgery was performed on July 9th. My brother drove down from Austin and a number of other friends from the Houston area came by to visit before and after surgery.
As they were preparing to put me out, they explained to Tim and Leland that IF I survived the surgery, I may not be able to tie my shoes and I may have trouble talking. With that little announcement they sent me to pre-op and then rolled me into the operating room. I was really groggy but I remember when the brain surgeons came in and asked it I wanted to say anything before they put me to sleep.
I looked at Doctor Ininni and Dr. Fox and in my best Caddo Parish accent I said:
"I'll give you twenty five dollah if you don't use that catheter". Everybody laughed and one of the doctors said: "Go ahead" to the doc that was going to put me to sleep. I counted backwards from ten but didn't make it past 8.
To make a long story short, I made it past the surgery and stayed there for roughly a week when they transferred me back to the VA in Shreveport where the Oncologist met with us to deliver the news about the biopsy.
The Chief of Staff for Oncology met with us and announced that the biopsy was in. He said:
"Mr. Butler, I wish I had good news for you but your biopsy shows that the tumor was Glioblastoma Multiform Grade 4 and it's the worst brain cancer on the planet. You have 3 months to 12 months to live".
In response to his statement, I didn't say anything at first. He asked me if I had something to say a couple of times before I responded. He mentioned to Tim Jr that he thought I was in denial and that's when I decided to speak up. I asked him if he had ever been shot down in a helicopter while flying in Cambodia. He said "NO, of course not" and I said: "When people tell me how screwed up stuff is I always ask "Compared to what?"
After that, I told him that I only wanted to live long enough to see the birth of a Grand Baby and kill terrorists". With that, he promptly sent me to the mental health department.
As you can see from the above story, I'm real excited about today's birthday party and the fact that Baby Butler #2 will be here around the 21st of June. Ooorah. Happy Birthday, Nora.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Friday, May 30, 2014
Today's Lesson in: "How The Hell Did That Happen".
I had my chance to deliver a brief speech on "Logic" yesterday. I did that at the VA in Shreveport. I chose Logic as my answer to a previous question regarding the anger that a lot of Veterans feel about the issues in our Country that are sensitive to most of them.
One of the many questions that stimulated this discussion surrounded the never ending questions that ask:
1. "Why don't Veterans want to talk about their feelings".
2. "What do you think the underlying reason is for all this anger".
3. "What hidden agenda do you think Veterans have about today's circumstances".
Initially, I spoke about the penalty one has to pay if you say something that is not viewed as Kosher. Some of the guys have been pretty vocal about their thoughts but the manner that they used to solve their frustrations was so far out of line they ended up on the 9th floor, if you know what I mean.
Oddly enough, one of the main complaints has to do with immigration. That overflowed into a million things that have produced a negative effect with the budget at the VA and the resulting under staffing and under-equipped condition that exists there now. They talk about the expense of housing the illegals in prison, the money it costs to feed them, pay for their medical expenses, especially anchor babies and the pollution of our society as a whole. I don't even want to go to the threat of "No Go Zones" that are being discussed in a couple of our cities.
Using Logic as my answer, I gave the following account of history to use as an example of what Veterans expect when we are attacked. Whether that be an invasion from millions of illegals walking across the border, a military assault or a terrorist attack, they view it the same way.
With that, I started out with the date December 7th, 1941. I said that everybody recognizes that date. I then pointed out that many Americans don't know what happened in April of 1942 which was only 4 months and a few day later. Despite April not ringing a bell, everybody has heard of the Doolittle Raid. That's right, a short time after Pearl Harbor, we bombed Tokyo.
I left April and went to June. That's only 6 months and change after Pearl Harbor. That's when the Battle of Midway took place and we literally knocked their socks off.
When I finished with the Battle of Midway I went to August and the amphibious assault made when we decided to take Guadalcanal.
The point I was wanting to make had to do with the expectations that Veterans have whenever "Their Country" is assaulted or attacked in any way, shape, form or fashion. I connected the 4 month time frame of the Doolittle Raid with the lack of action after the Twin Towers fell.
During one of the conversations I overheard between two older Veterans, when I was outside of the hospital in the break area, surrounded the notion that we should have immediately deported all Muslims.
Oddly enough, one of the guys mentioned something about the internment of all Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the conversation seemed to simply stop at that point. I wanted to argue that the situation isn't the same as the Japanese weren't all believing the same thing as Tojo and his group were and the terrorists do.
Now, with more and more Veterans coming in from Afghanistan and the Iraq War, the perspective has changed. I say that it's changed in a good way.
They're still talking about the September 11th attack in Benghazi, something that seems to be missing in the conversations among the media or the Department of State. I'm not sure how deporting all the Muslims, immediately after the Twin Towers fell, would have changed Benghazi but I still liked their idea.
In any event, I only had an hour to present my concept of using "Logic" as an explanation of why so many Veterans are pissed off. At the end of that session I offered to debate anyone in the hospital, Veteran, Doctor or staff member. I'm certain that won't go anywhere but I wanted to let you guys know that I made the offer. GIVE EM HELL, VETS.
One of the many questions that stimulated this discussion surrounded the never ending questions that ask:
1. "Why don't Veterans want to talk about their feelings".
2. "What do you think the underlying reason is for all this anger".
3. "What hidden agenda do you think Veterans have about today's circumstances".
Initially, I spoke about the penalty one has to pay if you say something that is not viewed as Kosher. Some of the guys have been pretty vocal about their thoughts but the manner that they used to solve their frustrations was so far out of line they ended up on the 9th floor, if you know what I mean.
Oddly enough, one of the main complaints has to do with immigration. That overflowed into a million things that have produced a negative effect with the budget at the VA and the resulting under staffing and under-equipped condition that exists there now. They talk about the expense of housing the illegals in prison, the money it costs to feed them, pay for their medical expenses, especially anchor babies and the pollution of our society as a whole. I don't even want to go to the threat of "No Go Zones" that are being discussed in a couple of our cities.
Using Logic as my answer, I gave the following account of history to use as an example of what Veterans expect when we are attacked. Whether that be an invasion from millions of illegals walking across the border, a military assault or a terrorist attack, they view it the same way.
With that, I started out with the date December 7th, 1941. I said that everybody recognizes that date. I then pointed out that many Americans don't know what happened in April of 1942 which was only 4 months and a few day later. Despite April not ringing a bell, everybody has heard of the Doolittle Raid. That's right, a short time after Pearl Harbor, we bombed Tokyo.
I left April and went to June. That's only 6 months and change after Pearl Harbor. That's when the Battle of Midway took place and we literally knocked their socks off.
When I finished with the Battle of Midway I went to August and the amphibious assault made when we decided to take Guadalcanal.
The point I was wanting to make had to do with the expectations that Veterans have whenever "Their Country" is assaulted or attacked in any way, shape, form or fashion. I connected the 4 month time frame of the Doolittle Raid with the lack of action after the Twin Towers fell.
During one of the conversations I overheard between two older Veterans, when I was outside of the hospital in the break area, surrounded the notion that we should have immediately deported all Muslims.
Oddly enough, one of the guys mentioned something about the internment of all Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the conversation seemed to simply stop at that point. I wanted to argue that the situation isn't the same as the Japanese weren't all believing the same thing as Tojo and his group were and the terrorists do.
Now, with more and more Veterans coming in from Afghanistan and the Iraq War, the perspective has changed. I say that it's changed in a good way.
They're still talking about the September 11th attack in Benghazi, something that seems to be missing in the conversations among the media or the Department of State. I'm not sure how deporting all the Muslims, immediately after the Twin Towers fell, would have changed Benghazi but I still liked their idea.
In any event, I only had an hour to present my concept of using "Logic" as an explanation of why so many Veterans are pissed off. At the end of that session I offered to debate anyone in the hospital, Veteran, Doctor or staff member. I'm certain that won't go anywhere but I wanted to let you guys know that I made the offer. GIVE EM HELL, VETS.
Monday, May 26, 2014
The VA and the news media's witch hunt.
In my opinion, the VA is a lot like privately owned or Corporately owned hospitals. Obviously, the VA is funded by the Government and the others are not but despite that, they are similar in many aspects. The ones that are dis-similar, seems to be the biggest difference.
One of the best examples that I can use to demonstrate this to be true comes from my own experiences. I say that because I was somewhat shocked to learn that one of the Doctors at the VA could not be replaced when he retired because they didn't have the budget to cover that. I also learned that MRI appointments were being out sourced because ours was inoperative and they didn't have the budget to get a new one.
I'm certain that many of the other VA facilities have experienced the same thing and that's been going on for a long time. In 2009 when the brain tumor showed up, my local VA couldn't do the surgery nor could they pay LSU medical center to do it because they didn't have the money in the budget.
From that, they sent me to Houston's VA where the brain surgery was just another day at work. They already had the people and the equipment as they were the Brain Trauma Center for the military. No problem.
With today's witch hunt and the desire to throw the responsible parties under the bus on going, one might ask a thing or two about "Cause and Effect". All you have to do is follow the money.
Try to keep an open mind about this "death list" or "died while waiting" thing. All you have to do is know two things. The first one is the total budget for the VA hospitals and the second is the Veteran's Benefits Package. I recall looking that up and learning that it was a bit over 50 Billion to run the hospitals and a little over 60 Billion to run the Benefit Package. Let's just call that 115 Billion and give ourselves a little cushion.
Now, having already learned about the underfunded, under equipped and understaffed thing, do a little math about the annual budgets that we deal with. How much are we spending on illegal aliens? How much for food stamps? How much for foreign aid? How much for Social Security Benefits that are being paid to those who are neither citizens or those who never paid a dime into it?
Do the math and make your own conclusion but try to understand that I don't believe for a minute that the accusations that are being made toward VA employees are true or that they "intentionally" set aside those who are terminal. Follow the money and you'll see the problem but don't expect to see any reports like this on the evening news. It ain't gonna happen.
One of the best examples that I can use to demonstrate this to be true comes from my own experiences. I say that because I was somewhat shocked to learn that one of the Doctors at the VA could not be replaced when he retired because they didn't have the budget to cover that. I also learned that MRI appointments were being out sourced because ours was inoperative and they didn't have the budget to get a new one.
I'm certain that many of the other VA facilities have experienced the same thing and that's been going on for a long time. In 2009 when the brain tumor showed up, my local VA couldn't do the surgery nor could they pay LSU medical center to do it because they didn't have the money in the budget.
From that, they sent me to Houston's VA where the brain surgery was just another day at work. They already had the people and the equipment as they were the Brain Trauma Center for the military. No problem.
With today's witch hunt and the desire to throw the responsible parties under the bus on going, one might ask a thing or two about "Cause and Effect". All you have to do is follow the money.
Try to keep an open mind about this "death list" or "died while waiting" thing. All you have to do is know two things. The first one is the total budget for the VA hospitals and the second is the Veteran's Benefits Package. I recall looking that up and learning that it was a bit over 50 Billion to run the hospitals and a little over 60 Billion to run the Benefit Package. Let's just call that 115 Billion and give ourselves a little cushion.
Now, having already learned about the underfunded, under equipped and understaffed thing, do a little math about the annual budgets that we deal with. How much are we spending on illegal aliens? How much for food stamps? How much for foreign aid? How much for Social Security Benefits that are being paid to those who are neither citizens or those who never paid a dime into it?
Do the math and make your own conclusion but try to understand that I don't believe for a minute that the accusations that are being made toward VA employees are true or that they "intentionally" set aside those who are terminal. Follow the money and you'll see the problem but don't expect to see any reports like this on the evening news. It ain't gonna happen.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Memorial Day and Remembering My School Mates and Fellow Pilots.
I will probably screw this list up as I'm not looking at any note books with the names of all those friends I lost in Vietnam. Despite that, since Memorial Day is almost here, I've been thinking about them and thought it would be appropriate to post those names here.
Working in reverse, I would like to mention Lt. Dan Combs. He and I lived in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Air Cav Troop Scout Hootch when I was flying OH 6s on hunter killer teams and I saw him every day.
Some of the men on this list were not known by me personally but I watched them die. On July 4th, 1970, when I was flying for the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, Warrant Officers Jernigan and Stearns were killed while making a gun run in their Cobra gun ship. During a rocket run to stop an ambush against our guys, an anti aircraft position shot them down. Wolman and I were flying together that day and I was his co pilot as I had only been in Vietnam seven weeks when that attack occurred. It has forever changed my memories and considerations of what July 4th really means.
I didn't know Bob Gorske but when he was killed in action, I was called to the 199th to replace him. We were both born in November of 1948, both Catholic, both from the South.
Classmates from flight school were the most difficult to endure. Jimmy Dunnevant and I went all the way through basic together plus the 9 months we spent in flight school. I don't think he lasted two months in Vietnam. Bob Gentry and Steve Larabee, who I spent nine months with before we left for Vietnam, were sad losses for me. Two kids I went to high school with, Danny and Richard, were both Marines and both killed before I ever even graduated from flight school. Sam Perkins, a kid from my boarding school days at Morris also died.
Many more died after Vietnam and I'm sure that some of those deaths could be attributed to the after effects of the war. Alcohol is not a good way to run away from the nightmares. I recently received news that Mike Gunnells, a door gunner, passed away from malignant brain cancer that was brought on by Agent Orange. That was last week.
He flew with the 174th Assault Helicopter Company and was a friend of a friend. He flew with Fred Thompson who was a really close friend. Fred died of cancer, too. Agent Orange? I don't know.
James Miles was killed in Germany or Korea. I can't remember which one but he died soon after we graduated. He was a super nice guy.
On the other hand, I think I need to mention the many American lives that were saved by Craig Wolman, a pilot that I've written about many times here. Most of his work was done flying Nighthawk Gunships and I had the great fortune to sit in as his co pilot.
I don't want to forget to mention Howard "BIG MO", Modjeski who was a medevac pilot. He is the legend that the public never gets to hear about. Despite that, he has been recognized by many others including the 174th Assault Helicopter Company where he was invited to speak during one of their annual reunions.
Dudley Young, Terry Femmer, Ed Wolfe, Kat Ballew and John Jergens also come to mind as pilots that did more than their share of saving lives by eliminating the bad guys. They also flew with the 199th.
I'm sure that's not all that's on the list but they are the ones that come to mind at this time. Hand Salute to all of you young men. So long and see you later.
Tim
Steve Diehl died after his tour. I find it hard to believe that a rock hard combat veteran who was strong enough to make it through flight school, simply died of a heart attack ...end of story. I'm certain that Agent Orange took him out as he was still very young when he died.
Working in reverse, I would like to mention Lt. Dan Combs. He and I lived in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Air Cav Troop Scout Hootch when I was flying OH 6s on hunter killer teams and I saw him every day.
Some of the men on this list were not known by me personally but I watched them die. On July 4th, 1970, when I was flying for the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, Warrant Officers Jernigan and Stearns were killed while making a gun run in their Cobra gun ship. During a rocket run to stop an ambush against our guys, an anti aircraft position shot them down. Wolman and I were flying together that day and I was his co pilot as I had only been in Vietnam seven weeks when that attack occurred. It has forever changed my memories and considerations of what July 4th really means.
I didn't know Bob Gorske but when he was killed in action, I was called to the 199th to replace him. We were both born in November of 1948, both Catholic, both from the South.
Classmates from flight school were the most difficult to endure. Jimmy Dunnevant and I went all the way through basic together plus the 9 months we spent in flight school. I don't think he lasted two months in Vietnam. Bob Gentry and Steve Larabee, who I spent nine months with before we left for Vietnam, were sad losses for me. Two kids I went to high school with, Danny and Richard, were both Marines and both killed before I ever even graduated from flight school. Sam Perkins, a kid from my boarding school days at Morris also died.
Many more died after Vietnam and I'm sure that some of those deaths could be attributed to the after effects of the war. Alcohol is not a good way to run away from the nightmares. I recently received news that Mike Gunnells, a door gunner, passed away from malignant brain cancer that was brought on by Agent Orange. That was last week.
He flew with the 174th Assault Helicopter Company and was a friend of a friend. He flew with Fred Thompson who was a really close friend. Fred died of cancer, too. Agent Orange? I don't know.
James Miles was killed in Germany or Korea. I can't remember which one but he died soon after we graduated. He was a super nice guy.
On the other hand, I think I need to mention the many American lives that were saved by Craig Wolman, a pilot that I've written about many times here. Most of his work was done flying Nighthawk Gunships and I had the great fortune to sit in as his co pilot.
I don't want to forget to mention Howard "BIG MO", Modjeski who was a medevac pilot. He is the legend that the public never gets to hear about. Despite that, he has been recognized by many others including the 174th Assault Helicopter Company where he was invited to speak during one of their annual reunions.
Dudley Young, Terry Femmer, Ed Wolfe, Kat Ballew and John Jergens also come to mind as pilots that did more than their share of saving lives by eliminating the bad guys. They also flew with the 199th.
I'm sure that's not all that's on the list but they are the ones that come to mind at this time. Hand Salute to all of you young men. So long and see you later.
Tim
Steve Diehl died after his tour. I find it hard to believe that a rock hard combat veteran who was strong enough to make it through flight school, simply died of a heart attack ...end of story. I'm certain that Agent Orange took him out as he was still very young when he died.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Long Binh, Bien Hoa.......both sucked.
Time has a way of robbing one of their memories. Brain surgery delivers a different result. I only visited that base 3 times. One was when I arrived, one was when I departed and the other one was an unscheduled stop to deliver a FAC pilot who had a mechanical problem in Xuan Loc. We gave them a ride back to their base so they wouldn't have to spend the night in one of our bunkers.
I only spent 4 months with the 199th before I was transferred to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment to begin their Nighthawk Operations. It was a really good unit that was commanded by a Major Roy Wulff who was one of the best commanders Vietnam ever saw. He knew how to handle 20 year old Warrant Officers.
Before I met the Captain that played the role of inspiring me to leave the Army after my tour, I had 3 men who I admired a great deal. Major Lewis and then Major Stiner at the 199th and then Major Wulff. I considered a number of things during a career counseling day and after being an instructor pilot at Rucker or obtaining a Chinook rating at Hunter Stewart, a slot that had already been approved, I thought about asking Major Wulff if I could follow him and be his chief pilot.
I don't want to get into the idiot ass Captain that was eventually kicked out of the Army but suffice it to say that he never should have been an officer or a pilot cause he sucked at both. I guess it turned out okay because I earned my fixed wing license shortly after I returned from Vietnam and eventually bought a Cessna 206 and then a Piper Seneca II. I had lots of time in both and flew all over the South for years. No captains there except me.
I only spent 4 months with the 199th before I was transferred to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment to begin their Nighthawk Operations. It was a really good unit that was commanded by a Major Roy Wulff who was one of the best commanders Vietnam ever saw. He knew how to handle 20 year old Warrant Officers.
Before I met the Captain that played the role of inspiring me to leave the Army after my tour, I had 3 men who I admired a great deal. Major Lewis and then Major Stiner at the 199th and then Major Wulff. I considered a number of things during a career counseling day and after being an instructor pilot at Rucker or obtaining a Chinook rating at Hunter Stewart, a slot that had already been approved, I thought about asking Major Wulff if I could follow him and be his chief pilot.
I don't want to get into the idiot ass Captain that was eventually kicked out of the Army but suffice it to say that he never should have been an officer or a pilot cause he sucked at both. I guess it turned out okay because I earned my fixed wing license shortly after I returned from Vietnam and eventually bought a Cessna 206 and then a Piper Seneca II. I had lots of time in both and flew all over the South for years. No captains there except me.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
44 Years Ago Today.
Today marks my first day in Vietnam, 44 years ago.
As we were making our final approach from Wake Island into Long Binh Air Force Base, I noticed all the bomb craters along our route of flight. When we landed and approached the terminal building, an A 37 with the cockpit glass raised, gave us a rare view of a strange sight. The pilot had stopped his plane, stood up and gave us a hand salute. I never forgot that gesture and made damn sure that I welcomed every new guy in the same fashion.
I remembered getting off the plane and smelling an odd odor which I eventually learned to live with. It came from the smoke that always seemed to be around that part of Vietnam and the rice fields. We were immediately ushered toward green buses that had windows in it surrounded by wire mesh. That was to keep the hand grenades from being thrown in the bus. Not exactly your best equipped Greyhound Special.
As we departed from the base, we traveled through the most God awful looking village one could imagine. Not the kind of place you would want to take an afternoon stroll. There were guys walking around with M 16s with their heads constantly on the move to detect any VC who might try to kill us all.
The 90th Replacement Battalion was only a short drive away and when we arrived and departed the bus, I was surprised to see several of the guys I had gone to flight school with. That was a great comfort as misery certainly loves company.
In no time at all, we were directed to an auditorium of sorts where sheets of paper containing every unit in Vietnam were listed. I didn't know the difference between I Corps and IV Corp but I did recognize some very historic units and after a moment to review those units we were asked to pick one. I don't remember if I chose the 199th or they chose me but I remember telling someone that Long Binh and the area between there and the South China Sea reminded me of the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Before I knew it, the process was over and I was sent to a jeep and driven a short distance to the Fireball Aviation Hanger at a place called "Red Catcher".
The jeep driver dropped me off at the maintenance hanger and promptly left. There wasn't a soul around so I just sat there a moment wondering what in the hell would happen next. That's when I met Specialist 4th Class Ron West, the jeep driver for the 199th. He drove up, saluted, asked me if I was the "new pilot" and I said yes. He told me that was great as "they need that Huey at Xuan Loc right now.
He pointed to a D model UH 1 Huey, a model that I had never flown before. We had been flying A and B models in flight school so I wandered on over to it to see what the cockpit looked like. My first thoughts were : "Oh my God, I wonder how you start THIS thing". While I was inspecting the aircraft, West said: "Mr Butler, we have to go. They need this Huey at the front right now".
I knew enough to know that I had to report for duty first and before I had the opportunity to refuse to get in the cockpit someone came up to me, welcomed me to the unit and told West to take me to Head and Head which was Headquarters.
A few blocks away I was welcomed to the unit by two old Warrant Officers who told me that someone would be flying in to meet me. I was taken back to the unit on the flight line and in a short period of time, Craig Wolman or Terry Femmer showed up and we took off for Xuan Loc. Google it and you'll see that it wasn't a vacation spot.
We flew to Xuan Loc which was roughly 20 minutes away from Red Catcher. After landing I was escorted to the Commanding Officer, Major Lewis. I snapped to attention and said: "Sir, Warrant Officer Butler, reporting for duty". When he returned my salute I noticed the KA ring on his right hand and immediately felt at home. I was a KA at Northwestern and we immediately made the connection of fraternity brothers far from home.
Not long after that, I was given a bunk in a bunker that had slits or openings in the walls that would allow us to shoot our M 16s out of in case of a ground attack. That wasn't the best of feelings because I didn't have an M 16 or anything else to shoot with.
In any event, the day was getting long in the tooth and later on, I was introduced to the Commanding Colonel and his staff as well as a couple of other pilots and crew members. I spent my first night in Country in that bunker and was awakened by the loudest noise I'd ever heard in my life. Whether the first one was an incoming rocket or an outgoing 125 Howitzer still remains a mystery to me. That's another story and I have to call it a day for now but I wanted to give you guys an idea of what day 1 was like in Vietnam.
As we were making our final approach from Wake Island into Long Binh Air Force Base, I noticed all the bomb craters along our route of flight. When we landed and approached the terminal building, an A 37 with the cockpit glass raised, gave us a rare view of a strange sight. The pilot had stopped his plane, stood up and gave us a hand salute. I never forgot that gesture and made damn sure that I welcomed every new guy in the same fashion.
I remembered getting off the plane and smelling an odd odor which I eventually learned to live with. It came from the smoke that always seemed to be around that part of Vietnam and the rice fields. We were immediately ushered toward green buses that had windows in it surrounded by wire mesh. That was to keep the hand grenades from being thrown in the bus. Not exactly your best equipped Greyhound Special.
As we departed from the base, we traveled through the most God awful looking village one could imagine. Not the kind of place you would want to take an afternoon stroll. There were guys walking around with M 16s with their heads constantly on the move to detect any VC who might try to kill us all.
The 90th Replacement Battalion was only a short drive away and when we arrived and departed the bus, I was surprised to see several of the guys I had gone to flight school with. That was a great comfort as misery certainly loves company.
In no time at all, we were directed to an auditorium of sorts where sheets of paper containing every unit in Vietnam were listed. I didn't know the difference between I Corps and IV Corp but I did recognize some very historic units and after a moment to review those units we were asked to pick one. I don't remember if I chose the 199th or they chose me but I remember telling someone that Long Binh and the area between there and the South China Sea reminded me of the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Before I knew it, the process was over and I was sent to a jeep and driven a short distance to the Fireball Aviation Hanger at a place called "Red Catcher".
The jeep driver dropped me off at the maintenance hanger and promptly left. There wasn't a soul around so I just sat there a moment wondering what in the hell would happen next. That's when I met Specialist 4th Class Ron West, the jeep driver for the 199th. He drove up, saluted, asked me if I was the "new pilot" and I said yes. He told me that was great as "they need that Huey at Xuan Loc right now.
He pointed to a D model UH 1 Huey, a model that I had never flown before. We had been flying A and B models in flight school so I wandered on over to it to see what the cockpit looked like. My first thoughts were : "Oh my God, I wonder how you start THIS thing". While I was inspecting the aircraft, West said: "Mr Butler, we have to go. They need this Huey at the front right now".
I knew enough to know that I had to report for duty first and before I had the opportunity to refuse to get in the cockpit someone came up to me, welcomed me to the unit and told West to take me to Head and Head which was Headquarters.
A few blocks away I was welcomed to the unit by two old Warrant Officers who told me that someone would be flying in to meet me. I was taken back to the unit on the flight line and in a short period of time, Craig Wolman or Terry Femmer showed up and we took off for Xuan Loc. Google it and you'll see that it wasn't a vacation spot.
We flew to Xuan Loc which was roughly 20 minutes away from Red Catcher. After landing I was escorted to the Commanding Officer, Major Lewis. I snapped to attention and said: "Sir, Warrant Officer Butler, reporting for duty". When he returned my salute I noticed the KA ring on his right hand and immediately felt at home. I was a KA at Northwestern and we immediately made the connection of fraternity brothers far from home.
Not long after that, I was given a bunk in a bunker that had slits or openings in the walls that would allow us to shoot our M 16s out of in case of a ground attack. That wasn't the best of feelings because I didn't have an M 16 or anything else to shoot with.
In any event, the day was getting long in the tooth and later on, I was introduced to the Commanding Colonel and his staff as well as a couple of other pilots and crew members. I spent my first night in Country in that bunker and was awakened by the loudest noise I'd ever heard in my life. Whether the first one was an incoming rocket or an outgoing 125 Howitzer still remains a mystery to me. That's another story and I have to call it a day for now but I wanted to give you guys an idea of what day 1 was like in Vietnam.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Coincidental Probability
It's too windy to go to the airport this morning so I thought I would spend a minute here and tell you a story.
I have a new favorite word. It's "Coincidental Probability". I discovered it while watching an episode of NCIS. If you are familiar with it, Tim McGee and one of the newer female agents, were having a conversation about a "Coin Toss". It seems to be one of their favorite methods to settle bets or make predictions.
It seems that every time the coin was tossed, whether it was heads or tails, McGee would always win.
After some degree of frustration on the part of the loser, she finally asked the question: "Why is it, that every time we toss the coin, you always win"? McGee said that she should chalk it up to "Coincidental Probability" but she rejected the answer and asked if it was a trick coin or some kind of magic. McGee suggested that she might not understand the concept but when he did, she claimed to have written her senior thesis on Coincidental Probability and knew all about it.
I decided to Google it and see what they had to say about it. When I did that I found a ton of information under Coincidence Probability and with that, I became pretty interested in the different degrees of the concept and how I had inadvertently been using it all my life.
They used the probability of birthdays. They gave an example of the probability of someone in a room full of people, having the same birthday as you. I decided to use something else.
When you are invading a foreign country by air, especially in a helicopter, and you know where the anti aircraft positions are, you probably better not fly over them or you could get your ass shot off or shot down. That thought process went back 44 years.
Thanks to coincidental probability and some seriously bad times for Captain Campbell, Warrant Officers Morvant, Robb, Lambert, Rhorer, Olinger and Lts. Coombs, Long and Forscythe , I learned quickly, where not to go.
It might seem elementary to make a decision to change course because people were getting shot down over a specific area but when you have orders to fly a specific route to "ingress" a target area, that's the way you go.
In the latter part of my combat tour, especially when I became one of the senior pilots, I pretty much decided that I would make up my own rules of ingress and egress after I crossed the border into Cambodia.
For those of you who have seen Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise in "A Few Good Men", you might ask, "Can you ignore an order". My answer is this: "When you have a new guy in charge, a guy that has no combat experience invading another country, a guy who is an idiot, HELL YEAH.
I considered my decisions in combat as decisions that saved American lives more than focusing on decisions that took enemy lives. I liked George Scott's explanation of that when he played the role of Patton. "Make the other damn bastard die for his country".
Whether the captain in charge of me liked it wasn't really that much of a concern to me. I had already made the decision to leave the Army because of him and my career didn't mean shit to me. When he threatened to ruin my career I responded with : "There must be a misunderstanding sir, I'm leaving the Army when my tour is over and my new career is ruining yours".
That was a good decision and in my recollection of experiences that could be classified as "Coincidental Probability" , I concluded that if I had not taken that path, I would have ended up like the group of brave men listed in the above paragraph of men who had been shot down.
Now, before I sign off, I want you to think about the signs you've seen in human behavior that cause you to think a particular way. Whether it's a co worker who is "cooking the books" and stealing commissions from you or a competitor that's paying kickbacks to customers, there is a great degree of probability that their repeated theft or lies isn't just a coincidence. Some people are just assholes and all you have to do is watch and learn. After that, you should know which way to go and what to do.
Y'all have a nice day and hello to Dr. Mike O, Dr. Manny T, and a couple of other guys who have found lots of bullet holes in their helicopter.
I have a new favorite word. It's "Coincidental Probability". I discovered it while watching an episode of NCIS. If you are familiar with it, Tim McGee and one of the newer female agents, were having a conversation about a "Coin Toss". It seems to be one of their favorite methods to settle bets or make predictions.
It seems that every time the coin was tossed, whether it was heads or tails, McGee would always win.
After some degree of frustration on the part of the loser, she finally asked the question: "Why is it, that every time we toss the coin, you always win"? McGee said that she should chalk it up to "Coincidental Probability" but she rejected the answer and asked if it was a trick coin or some kind of magic. McGee suggested that she might not understand the concept but when he did, she claimed to have written her senior thesis on Coincidental Probability and knew all about it.
I decided to Google it and see what they had to say about it. When I did that I found a ton of information under Coincidence Probability and with that, I became pretty interested in the different degrees of the concept and how I had inadvertently been using it all my life.
They used the probability of birthdays. They gave an example of the probability of someone in a room full of people, having the same birthday as you. I decided to use something else.
When you are invading a foreign country by air, especially in a helicopter, and you know where the anti aircraft positions are, you probably better not fly over them or you could get your ass shot off or shot down. That thought process went back 44 years.
Thanks to coincidental probability and some seriously bad times for Captain Campbell, Warrant Officers Morvant, Robb, Lambert, Rhorer, Olinger and Lts. Coombs, Long and Forscythe , I learned quickly, where not to go.
It might seem elementary to make a decision to change course because people were getting shot down over a specific area but when you have orders to fly a specific route to "ingress" a target area, that's the way you go.
In the latter part of my combat tour, especially when I became one of the senior pilots, I pretty much decided that I would make up my own rules of ingress and egress after I crossed the border into Cambodia.
For those of you who have seen Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise in "A Few Good Men", you might ask, "Can you ignore an order". My answer is this: "When you have a new guy in charge, a guy that has no combat experience invading another country, a guy who is an idiot, HELL YEAH.
I considered my decisions in combat as decisions that saved American lives more than focusing on decisions that took enemy lives. I liked George Scott's explanation of that when he played the role of Patton. "Make the other damn bastard die for his country".
Whether the captain in charge of me liked it wasn't really that much of a concern to me. I had already made the decision to leave the Army because of him and my career didn't mean shit to me. When he threatened to ruin my career I responded with : "There must be a misunderstanding sir, I'm leaving the Army when my tour is over and my new career is ruining yours".
That was a good decision and in my recollection of experiences that could be classified as "Coincidental Probability" , I concluded that if I had not taken that path, I would have ended up like the group of brave men listed in the above paragraph of men who had been shot down.
Now, before I sign off, I want you to think about the signs you've seen in human behavior that cause you to think a particular way. Whether it's a co worker who is "cooking the books" and stealing commissions from you or a competitor that's paying kickbacks to customers, there is a great degree of probability that their repeated theft or lies isn't just a coincidence. Some people are just assholes and all you have to do is watch and learn. After that, you should know which way to go and what to do.
Y'all have a nice day and hello to Dr. Mike O, Dr. Manny T, and a couple of other guys who have found lots of bullet holes in their helicopter.
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